Hymn doesn't want to name the feeling burgeoning in her breast, fearing that in acknowledging the fledgling hope she felt she would scare it away instead. She knew that she should not so readily trust anyone again, that aunty Roisin and her mother would both caution her against jumping feet first into anything after what she'd been through, but she already felt wobbly and out of control. As if Annubis hadn't only reached out to shake her metaphorical hand, but lifted it to spin her around like a dancer, leaving her off-kilter and flushed.

He was already picking up the pace so as not to get left behind when she issued her taunt, and he returned the playful energy to her before racing ahead to enlist Promise in the game.

The filly squealed in delight as she felt him draw near and positively beamed at the chance to be a co-conspirator against her mother. She nodded eagerly, and then her tiny fuzzy ears pinned against her nape as she dropped her head and did her best impression of a racehorse toward the tree in question. Behind the pair, Hymn kept her pace steady but made no move to overtake them, her own thoughts and mind tangled up by emotions she hadn't expected to feel.

Just hours ago she was guarding her baby from the likes of this silver-coated stallion, and now here she was watching her daughter laugh openly and loudly as if they'd been best friends her whole life. The conflict of regret and hope was difficult to untangle, but her lips remained curved into a smile without any conscious effort on her part as she drew close to the tree.

Promise reached the tree "first" and nearly skidded into it in her haste to suddenly stop. The old tree was overgrown in patches of moss, with vines that tangled in the high branches and wound down along the trunk. A long lateral branch - wide enough for a foal to walk across if it were much lower to the ground - served as a basis for the nest Hymn had rescued so long ago. As if suddenly aware of the visitors, a watchful momma bird - clad in plumage of black and gold and orange - glared down at the filly and made a warning grumble sound. Willfully oblivious, Promise half-reared and propped her hoof on the tree to peer up at the creatures with wide eyes.

"Look momma, they're back!" Hymn jogged closer and watched the nest quietly. "Yes they are sweetie."

The girl landed back down before turning to Annubis with an inquisitive expression. She could ask her mom, but the thought of asking her momma when there was someone new and different here felt silly. Annubis was exciting, her momma was familiar. "What do you think they're doing up there?"